Kesal
by Griever11
Summary: Sequel to Rindu. But can be read alone. Finally updated with Chapter 4. ML
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Sequel of sorts to 'Rindu'. Reading that would be recommended, but not necessary. I realize this isn't exactly your run of the mill birthday fic…But anyway, hope you guys enjoy it.

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Logan walked down the familiar street, as the sun began to set, casually browsing through the stalls of fruit and vegetables. He missed the smell of the greens, the sound of buyers haggling for lower prices. He missed the hustle and bustle of shopping. There was no need for him to buy anything, not anymore. He rarely cooked now anyway.

"Happy birthday."

Logan turned around instinctively, knowing and recognizing the voice immediately. His raven haired beauty stood before him, silently munching on an apple. "It _is_ your birthday, right?" She asked.

He nodded. "Max…" His voice came out as a whisper.

It had been five months since he last saw her, three since he found out she wasn't really actually married. He had been confused at that revelation, delivered to him via Bling, who also told him that Max had taken the liberty to rid herself of the nasty retro virus. He almost cried as he listened to Bling.

She was still his dark angel.

"Thought you'd be home celebrating. That's what birthdays are for, aren't they?" Her voice sounded different. Hollow and empty, despite her attempts to mask it behind the carefree attitude. Her eyes never lied, not to him, and they were sad, melancholy.

_I did this to her_.

"Kylie has some friends over. I didn't want to intrude."

It wasn't exactly a lie. Kylie just didn't know he had left.

"It's your birthday though…"A look of confusion crossed Max's features as she tried to understand. Logan knew she never would. After all, he was the one who told her to celebrate at any opportunity they had. Mirth and all that. Hah. What a joke.

"Yeah, well. It's not that important." He told her. He turned around and started walking away. Max followed, not satisfied with what she was hearing. She was walking beside him now, silent, awaiting an explanation.

After five months, this was how she wanted to resume their friendship? In silence? Logan stopped walking.

"You wanna get a drink? There's a bar not too far away." Logan asked. That got Max's attention. She shifted uneasily, her guards all up now. She shook her head.

"Logan, I don't-"

"It'll be like old times. Just a drink, my birthday present from you." The desperation he heard in the voice that came out was pathetic. Then again, his need to be friends with Max was pathetic. He saw Max take in a deep breath, as if reprimanding herself from getting into the situation.

"You should go home to your wife, Logan. Celebrate." Her voice was hard.

"She'll be there when I get home." He said. He immediately regretted saying those words as he noticed Max's eyes flash with understanding.

"Logan, is something wrong? With you and…" Max began tentatively, but was cut off by Logan, his harsh voice hinting at a suppressed anger within himself.

"No, I just want to have a drink. With you." He spoke with an air of finality, as if the matter had been decided. Max sighed. This wasn't how she imagined her first encounter with him after that first day would be.

Logan was in pain, she could tell. She was an expert on that particular emotion. And when you were in pain, you needed a friend. She gave him a small smile and nodded.

"Okay, fine."

Logan grinned at her agreement. They walked in silence the rest of the way, both still somewhat uncomfortable with the whole 'I'm still your friend' situation. Max knew that Logan had found out her little white 'I'm married' lie and was grateful he did not bring it up.

The emotions that would accompany that conversation could kill her.

The bar Logan had been talking about was small. The neon sign board hanging precariously on a single electric wire read 'Fiery Dawn' and the door jingled as they pushed their way through.

"Kinda looks full." Max stated, glancing around. It was a decent enough place, how come she never heard about it? She looked up at Logan, wanting to ask if he still wanted to brave his way through the crowd.

"Got beer at your place?" He asked suddenly, and Max realized where this was coming from. She pulled his arm aggressively, not caring if he knew about the cure or not. She dragged him out onto the side walk and glared at him.

"Logan, go home. You shouldn't be doing this, especially when it's your birthday." She said, wanting to knock some sense into his head.

"If there is a problem between you and…your wife, fix it. But not with alcohol." She continued. Logan was aware of the hesitation as she referred to Kylie, but dismissed it. How else was she supposed to react?

"I just want us to be friends again, Max. One drink, one night, that's all I'm asking for. I…I miss you."

Max shook her head vehemently, ignoring his admission. She didn't need another emotional break down. "Go back home. You want to drink? Drink with her and work it out. Don't ruin your relationship with her."

"Like I ruined ours?" Logan asked her, his eyes fixed on hers.

"Stop it."

Why was she whispering? Damn him and his honesty. "Go home, please, Logan." She pleaded. It had taken all she had to brave seeing him today and she definitely could not deal with more emotions.

"Drink with me, I won't mention anything. Just one drink. I need this Max. I need to know that that you're over me. That I'm over you." His voice came out hoarse and desperate. He was begging her, begged her to understand.

The reality hit her hard. She wasn't over him. Never wanted to be, actually. But Logan…he needed this. What was it they said about closure? Once again, she found herself agreeing with him.

It's going to be the last time, she reasoned.

"Okay. Beer at my place. My birthday present to you." She said finally.

"We're going to need something stronger than beer." Logan muttered as he led her to his car parked down the street.

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"We're drunk."

Logan said, matter-of-factly. He was dizzy, and Max's living room apparently had double of everything. Two TVs, two tables, two couches. Funny how he didn't realize it when he came in.

"No, I don't get drunk. You're the drunk one." Max giggled, nearly falling over the armrest of the couch she was leaning on. She took another big gulp from the vodka bottle and offered it to Logan.

She was tipsy, definitely, but not drunk. X5s don't get drunk. X5s don't get drunk. X5s – ah, screw it. She took lunged at the bottle as Logan handed back to her and nearly dropped it. She was very, very tipsy. Not drunk. Another swig of the vodka would probably clear the haze in her head.

They had been going like this for hours. The six initial cans of beer had been downed within the first hour, and now, three hours and a lot of alcohol later, they were both stone high. But of course, Max who was an X5, apparently didn't get drunk.

"You wanna know a secret?" She asked Logan suddenly. She leant in close to him and grinned at him. "It's a big sec-sec-secret." She hiccuppedand started giggling.

"What?" Logan asked her, curiosity getting the better of him.

"I hate your wife…" Max said as she stared at him pointedly. She moved, leaning her head over the armrest.

"Why?" Logan asked her, dragging the monosyllable so that it sounded like it came from a child. He wasn't really sure why he was asking. He already knew the answer. His brain wasn't thinking properly. And the double everything vision definitely wasn't helping either.

"Because I loved you. And you chose her." Max sounded angry. She lifted her head up slightly, enjoying the rush of blood through her head and then leant back. She had told him her secret. She was free now. Free, free as a bird. She closed her eyes and imagined she was flying.

"You wanna know something, Max?" Max opened her eyes and was surprised to see Logan's blue eyes staring back at her. He was dangerously close to her, crouching on the floor at the end of the couch and smiling at her. Upside down, of course.

"Yeah." Max nodded and sat back up. She needed to maintain clear head for his confession. Well, as clear a head as a not-drunk-but-very-tipsy X5 could maintain. The haze in her head was thickening. She stared at him and arched her eyebrows at him, willing him to continue.

"I still love you." Logan whispered, and for a moment, his head cleared and realized, in horror what he had said. He was going to take it back until he saw Max still staring dumbly at him. The foggy feeling returned and his earlier horror forgotten.

"Why?" Max asked, in the same tone that Logan had used on her earlier.

"I never stopped."

"But you left me. And I hated you. I had a cure." She giggled, hiccupping over her words. She was reeling in shock at his words deep inside, but her current state of drunkenness prevented her from doing anything. She grinned at him.

"I'm cured." She repeated. She folded her legs underneath her and paused for a while for the world to stop spinning. It didn't.

"I know." Logan replied. He joined her on the couch and laughed. "I'm married and you're cured. It's heartbreak-breaking." He choked on his words as he laughed some more. Max joined him, giggling uncontrollably.

The laughter died down after a while, and with not a single drop of alcohol left in the apartment, the two fell silent, nursing their own drunken minds.

"It's your birthday." Max said, breaking the silence. Logan nodded.

"Well, happy birthday." She whispered.

The kiss was electric. The years of want and longing went into the kiss. Pain, love, hurt, lust. Tongues dueled, teeth clashed. Their hands were frantically searching, grasping. Even through their drunken haze, they knew who they belonged to. Emotion overrode logic. Love overrode pain.

Clothes were removed, the bedroom door opened and slammed shut, their souls comforted, their needs fulfilled. And finally, they slept in the arms of each other, as they should have been years ago.

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Logan woke and sat up, his head pounding and screaming for an aspirin. His glasses were missing and it was frightfully cold. What happened to that damned heater? He felt around and it suddenly dawned upon him that he wasn't at home.

He didn't sleep in the nude at home.

The events of the previous night rushed back to him he turned slowly to the body beside him. He saw lying beside him, previously curled up against his chest, a sleeping Max. Covered up to her neck by the blanket and probably just as naked as he was.

He groaned as he realized what they had done. Any regrets? None at all. Except that Max would probably ask him to forget it ever happened and he probably would have to agree with her. He really didn't want to leave her like that. But he had to.

He loved her. And he knew he would never stop doing so. He never wanted to leave her. He never wanted to marry Kylie. He never wanted to kill…

He sighed as he got out of the bed and collected his clothes. It would be better if he left. No awkward confrontations. Logan quickly got dressed. Spying a piece of paper and a pen on her dresser, he scribbled his apology and goodbye and left it on the pillow.

He exited his apartment just as his phone rang. Preparing to disconnect the call if it turned out to be his wife calling about his whereabouts, he was mildly shocked to find that it wasn't her. He answered as he started to exit the building.

"Hello?"

"You went home with her, Cale."

"Nothing happened. She was upset. I stayed the night." Logan said into the phone, hoping to god he didn't sound as nervous as he felt.

"Whatever you say. One wrong move, boy and she's dead. Now we don't want that do we?"

"No."

"Good. Go back to your wife, Cale. Tell her you had an emergency meeting with a client. Stop thinking about 452, it's your fault that she's _upset _anyway."

The line went dead before he could reply and Logan threw his phone on the ground in frustration.

"Perfect fucking way to celebrate my birthday…" He muttered as he crossed the street to where he had parked his car the night before.

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Review please. Need to know if you guys want to read more of this, or should if I just make this another one shot.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N**: Thanks for the awesome feedback the last chapter. I honestly didn't expect that many. You guys seriously are awesome! Oh yeah, **Marysheasy** asked if I was Malay, well, no I'm not. I'm Chinese.

Anyway, hope you enjoy this chap, a little bit of the mystery unraveled about the past.

Merry Christmas, people!

**Chapter 2**

"You made up with Logan?"

Max turned and sighed as she faced Alec. She turned back to the sign out sheet and pointedly ignored him. The faster she left Jam Pony, the easier it was to avoid encounters like these. Her half day work arrangement with Normal was due to her ever increasing responsibilities at Terminal City and she never appreciated it more than now, as she was making her way out and could avoid people like Alec who had to work the full shift.

"Kip said he saw you and him walking to your apartment. He didn't leave till morning."

"Alec, please just go away, I don't need this from you right now." Max said as she shouldered her bag pack. She made an attempt to leave but Alec blocked her path, a smirk playing on his lips.

"Well, I personally think it's great. You and Logan friends again, I mean. You were miserable whe-" Alec began but stopped short as Max fixed him with an angry stare.

"What? I'm just saying…" Alec started, not knowing what he had said wrong.

"Just leave me the hell alone, Alec!" She snapped and stormed pass him and quickly rode out on her bike. Alec stared at her retreating back, stunned at her sudden outburst.

_THREE YEARS AGO_

"He's really gone."

Alec just nodded, not really knowing how to respond. He had been the one who told her, and now, watching her sink to her knees in despair started to hate the guy for doing this to her.

"Why would he leave?" Her voice was soft, shaking. She stared out into space, her fingers clutched tightly around the leather bound book he had found in Logan's apartment.

Alec had gone over to see Logan, only to find the apartment stripped bare of all its furnishings. The paintings, computers, vases, everything Logan had openly displayed before were gone. Upon further investigating, his refrigerator, cupboards and closet had too suffered the same fate.

The only things left were the furniture and the book that he had found nestled between the cushions of the lonely couch in the middle of the living room.

Max didn't believe him when he told her, she had to see for herself. She sped all the way there, her heart hammering against her chest, praying to god that Alec was somehow miraculously wrong. Wrong apartment, wrong building.

But he had been right.

So here she was, leaning silently against the red walls of the apartment, hanging on for dear life to the only connection she had left to the love of her life.

"He told me he loved me. I didn't tell him…"

Alec didn't like this side of Max. Soft and vulnerable. He didn't like it. Max was strong. She led a hundred transgenics through the siege, and had ended up victorious. This wasn't the Max he knew.

"We were working it out, Alec. You saw how…he was doing fine, wasn't he?" Max whispered. Confusion barely described the whirlwind of emotions going through her. Alec sighed. He pulled her up from her bent position against the wall, almost violently.

"Look, if he left, there would be a reason. A very good reason. I know him, about as well as you do. And if he didn't tell us, maybe he didn't want us to know. It's not our place to try and figure the man out, Max."

Max stared at him after he finished. He saw her jaw clench silently as she let his words sink in. She let out a shaky breath.

"No, you don't know him, and don't pretend that you do. Go away, Alec. Leave me alone." She snapped, her eyes burning with anger at him. The book was clutched tightly in her hand as she glared at him, daring him to say more.

Alec shrugged and turned to leave. She would come to her senses soon enough.

_NOW_

Max did not want to go home. The mess from the night before would still be there, a harsh reminder of what she had done. What would her friends say if they found out? Kendra would laugh in glee. Nothing would please her more than knowing her best friend was just as prone to womanly wants and needs as the next female. Original Cindy would shake her head in disapproval, but two seconds later would start lamenting about her latest female companion problems.

She had woken up that morning feeling…nice. Granted, it was the most amount of sleep she had gotten in a long time, but this was different. His smell surrounded her, and if it wasn't for the pounding headache she was experiencing, she could swear that there still was an imprint of his body next to her. Then she remembered Logan was married. She would be a one night stand. One of those women who caused broken marriages.

She had dumped the bed sheets into the washing machine the moment she got up. She left the apartment quickly, needing to escape the vivid images of the night before that came when she found the empty bottles lying around in her living room.

That was over six hours ago. She neared Terminal City and hoped to god there was some urgent crisis that she needed to take care off immediately.

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Logan pushed the metal grill open and winced as the sound of metal scratching against metal reached his ears. He squeezed in, careful not to let anyone see him and made his way inside.

"You're late."

The hoarse voice which had been his nightmare for the past three years greeted him as the lights came on. The room was empty save for a few discarded boxes and a man leaning against the wall on the far side of the room, a cigarette dangling from his mouth. The man was big, one of those muscle men who reminded Logan of the Reds who had attacked Max years ago. Compared to him, Logan was scrawny.

"What do you want?" Logan asked wearily. He had come to realize that being straight to the point was the most appropriate way of dealing with him. The man threw his cigarette to the floor and stepped on it.

"You're late." He repeated as he approached Logan. "Wife didn't let you out?" The man chuckled.

Logan gritted his teeth and forced himself to stay calm. "Something like that." He muttered. "Can we just get on with it, Canavan?"

"Why so impatient? We've got plenty of time." Canavan drawled.

"I need to get back to work."

"You call that shit you're doing work? You know, I thought a few years away would change you. Apparently not. Still doing that whole 'I'm responsible for everyone in the city' bit, of course on a smaller scale than before, but…you're something else, you know?"

Logan stayed silent. Canavan would get to his point eventually.

"Your girl, 452, Maxie... She doing okay?" Canavan asked suddenly. Logan looked at him, sensing a more sinister agenda to this meeting than he initially expected.

"Max is fine. But then again, you would already know that, wouldn't you?" Logan said bitterly. "What am I doing here, Canavan? I've got better things to do than to listen to your bullshit."

"Okay, okay. Calm down, Cale. I'm just playing with you. One question… Have you told Kylie yet? About what you did? Why you married her? Cause being your wife, I mean, that should give her certain privileges doesn't it, other than the more obvious ones?" Canavan let out a small laugh and looked at Logan, expecting an answer.

He didn't get one. Canavan sighed. Logan was one tough nut to crack.

"You killed Redmond, Cale. I'm not letting you off that easily."

Logan shut his eyes. "What else do want from me? You got a team on Max. You ruined my life. What else do you want to take from me?"

Logan saw Canavan hesitate, as if he was contemplating what to say next. Canavan let out a sigh.

"I told you, Cale. One wrong move and she's dead. I told you."

Logan paled. He recalled the phone conversation that morning. There was no way he could find out, was there? He swallowed. "I don't know what you're talking about." His heart hammered in his chest as he considered what to do. It was déjà vu all over again.

"I'm very sure you do." He paused. "You know, the only reason you're back in Seattle is because they want you to be back. Because Kylie wants to come here. I almost let myself think you would behave. But, then you went and slept with her, Cale."

"Who are 'they'?" Logan asked, not missing the small slip up. So there was a bigger picture here. His suspicions were confirmed, Canavan wasn't working alone. He heard Canavan curse as he realized his mistake. Logan scanned the room for the possible exits, and fingered his gun tucked behind his pants. Canavan was talking again, ignoring Logan's question.

"_That_ was a wrong move. What was it you said? 452 was upset? So to cheer her up, you sleep with her? What part of being married do you not understand?" Canavan was visibly angry now. He advanced towards Logan, all earlier pretences of a friendly meet vanishing into thin air. Logan backed away, his grip on his gun behind him tightening.

"I don't know, really. My first marriage did fail, so maybe there's something there?" Logan shrugged. Canavan narrowed his eyes, not appreciating the joke.

Logan eyed Canavan, and noticed his hand reaching into his coat. Logan pulled his gun out immediately and trained it on Canavan. Canavan's hands were still in his coat, but he had frozen in his attempts to retrieve whatever it was beneath it.

"One more move and I swear I'll kill you." Logan said, meaning every word. Canavan watched him, his eyes on the gun.

"Drop your weapon, Cale. You don't want to do this." Canavan said slowly. He pulled his hand out from his coat and put it in the air. "I'm unarmed." He added.

"I'm not stupid." Logan snapped. He sounded far braver than he felt. He knew Canavan. He knew he wouldn't come unarmed, unprepared. And even then, Canavan was definitely the stronger of the two. If Canavan was as prepared as Logan thought he was, a gun would not be enough to stop him. All Logan could hope for was a quick exit and a chance to reach Max before anything happened.

"You won't do it, Cale. You're too big a man for that." Canavan said.

"Shut up." Logan backed towards the entrance, still focusing the gun on Canavan. He didn't like the way his adversary was smiling, as if there was something that Logan had failed to notice. He reached towards the metal grill he had come in from and pushed it slightly. It wouldn't budge. Canavan's grin grew wider.

All of a sudden, all of the memories of the past year came rushing back to him. The escape from Seattle, the threats made on Max's life. He saw in his mind's eye, Max falling from her bike for no apparent reason and then Canavan laughing wildly about how he had made that happen. The blood on the ground. His forced marriage to Kylie.

All because of one man. One mistake.

And now, he could not get out. Literally could not get out because the metal grill would not move, no matter how hard he shoved it. Canavan advanced, sensing Logan's helplessness. He lunged at Logan suddenly, forcing Logan to lower his gun and avoid colliding with him. Logan repositioned the gun at Canavan.

"Back off, Canavan!" He shouted. He pointed the gun towards the area next to Canavan and took a shot. The sound deafened him, echoing against the walls of the room. Canavan stopped abruptly, as if realizing for the first time that Logan meant business.

"Why don't you just take the shot, Cale? Kill me on the spot?" He snarled.

"I want to know who you work for." Logan snapped back at him. Canavan spat on the ground and shook his head.

"What makes you think I know who I work for?" He let out a burst of laughter.

"You think I'm an idiot, Canavan? You think I didn't do the research going into this? I know you know something. And you're going to tell me. Now." Logan said, leaving all attempts to escape and started to move towards Canavan.

Maybe Canavan wasn't as prepared as he initially thought. Maybe he really had the upper hand this time. He smiled grimly.

"Sure I know something. I know that you're not supposed to kill people for no reason, I know when you're married you're not supposed to sleep with other people. And I know that you're a dead man, Cale. The minute they find out about this, you're a dead man."

It was the smugness in the way Canavan said this that made Logan lose it. He let his emotions take over and the gun went off, once, twice, thrice, before he managed to stop himself. He saw Canavan keel over, bleeding. Dropping the gun, he went to the body.

Canavan was alive, but barely. One of his shots had missed, only two bloody pools of blood staining the other man's shirt. Logan kneeled down. "Who's doing this to me?" He asked him. Canavan stayed silent, and then he smiled. Logan gritted his teeth in frustration. Who in the right mind smiled when he was dying?

Someone who wanted to die.

And then it hit him. Canavan had reached into his coat earlier. While he was trying to escape, Canavan had reached into his coat. Logan swallowed and grabbed the bloody coat, turning it over. There was a pocket and he reached into it, hoping to dear god that all he would find was a gun.

Canavan let out a choking laugh. "You're a….dead man, Cale." He rasped. Logan pulled out the device from the pocket, ignoring him. It looked like a bomb detonator, red button on top with a small antennae sticking out. Logan panicked.

"Tell me what this does!" He yelled, not caring if anyone heard him. Canavan smiled at him.

"I …wanted to tell… you." Canavan took in a shaky breath. "Your girl, she's…dead too. They're going to…get…her." Canavan laughed one last time then shut his eyes, leaving Logan to deal with the myriad of emotions that coursed through him.

He took one last glance at Canavan and ran. He needed to warn her and he hoped he wasn't too late.

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The wind bit into Max, blowing her hair into a wild mess. She was leaning against the railing of the roof of Terminal City's main building. Terminal City was quiet. There hadn't been anything major that she needed to deal with and now was only left with the memories of the night before.

How much had she wanted that? To finally tell Logan how she felt, how much she hated him after he left, and when she saw his wedding pictures.

She knew at the time, three years ago after the initial shock of his leaving that it must have been something to do with her. Logan wouldn't have left otherwise. She worked hard then, to find out why. Logan was good, but not good enough. After a half a year of searching, she found him in Los Angeles. He'd gotten a hair cut, dyed it black and gotten rid of his glasses.

Max wanted to go to him then, tell him to come back, that the virus was going to be cured. Terminal City was bustling with activity at the time, fresh out of their victory from the siege and she was busy. She put off going to him for a year, all the while keeping close tabs on him, making sure he didn't disappear on her.

And then she found out about Kylie and she gave up. Logan had reverted to using his real name, discarding the fake Mr. Eastman he had been using up until then.

She should have gone when she first found him, but she didn't and now, she realized painfully, he had moved on. She told her contacts to erase all traces of her search for him, all the information she had compiled on him and made herself think that it was for the best. Why dwell on the past?

She cried herself to sleep most nights after that. She realized that she had been keeping a candle burning for him in her heart and it had been snuffed out, suddenly and cruelly by the blonde woman who called herself his wife.

Max sighed as she recalled the pain and hurt she felt at the time. She shook it off, not wanting to relive the painful memories. She had bigger problems now. She looked down on the grounds and noticed Joshua walking about with a group of younger transgenics. She resisted the urge to call out to him, wanting to maintain the peace and quiet on the roof.

If she had called out to him, maybe she would have avoided the disaster that followed. Maybe Joshua would have noticed, from his vantage point on the ground, the sniper on the building next to where Max was standing. If she had called out to Joshua, he would have yelled at her to duck, giving her time to dodge the bullet hurtling towards her.

But she didn't.

She turned at the last minute, hearing the rush of wind and in the last moment moved to the side, using all her transgenic abilities to try and dodge it, all the while panicking, knowing that there was no way in hell that even with her capabilities, she could ever stay clear of the shot.

Max felt the pain in her chest, the burning sting of the bullet entering, and lodging itself into her body. She gasped as the impact knocked the wind out of her and the blood started to spill. She screamed as the searing pain shot through her. Max realized she was falling backwards, falling over the railing, into nothing.

The last thing that went through her head was regret. She should have gone to him. Should have told him she loved him back. Should have never let him go. Then there was nothing.

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Hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas!


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: THANK YOU a million times for those who have been waiting patiently. Life's been pretty hectic and it was hard to get into the DA headspace for a while. Anyway, I'm back! This wasn't the story I wanted to update first though. But it'll do. :P

Thanks to **xihlkage, bastgoddess, WeAreBorgg, annie200, lkaplon, iona, Mari83, and Chimaera452Bast** for reviewing the last chapter. And thank you to everyone else who reviewed previously.

This chap's a little different from the previous ones. Contains a few flashbacks which reveal more about the past and Max's current state of vulnerability. Comments please!

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Their orders were simple. Once they were signaled, she was to be shot. Look out points had been set up on different buildings around Terminal City, the most strategic places to watch her movements. Together, between the two of them, they could see all over Terminal City and their job would be an easy one.

452 always took walks alone.

That in itself was a blessing for them, minimizing the chances of them failing because they had not been able to see through the buildings. They had been watching her for a long time, taking down her everyday routines, the roads she frequented to get home, her favorite restaurants, bars, people she had been with. They knew her like they knew themselves. Five months of watching her every movement. Five months of physical torture. And now they were going to kill her. It was finally going to happen.

It was exciting. It really didn't matter that their target was one of them. Life is that unfair sometimes. Coda eyed the communicator wearily. He was itching for action. Five months of recon. Coda was nearing his breaking point

The signal came in the form of three short bursts of light on their communicators. The signal ended as abruptly as it started, and if they had blinked, they would have missed it. They didn't blink, more or less the same way Max didn't sleep.

They took up their respective positions, and all that could be heard were the silent clicks of the snipers as they were loaded.

"I don't see her." Desi told Coda, her voice soft through the earpiece.

"No worries. I got her on the roof of the main building." Coda whispered into his headset as he spotted her. He heard the murmured acknowledgement from his teammate. This kill was his. He smiled to himself. He lowered his sniper into position and took aim.

He pulled the trigger, his eyes remaining fixed on the zoomed, cross-haired image of Max, leaning casually against the railing, the wind whipping her hair into a tangled mess. He saw the bullet hurtling towards her, a speck of grey against the blue sky.

His efforts were rewarded as he heard her blood curling scream of pain.

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Joshua heard her screams a full second before he turned and actually saw her. It had barely registered in his head, but as he saw the falling figure, he screamed as well. He ran. It reminded him of the computer games Alec had taught him to play, try to catch the falling parachute before it reached the ground.

This wasn't a game.

He barely managed to catch her in time. His arms stretched out, trying to gauge where she would end up. One second she was in the air, and the in the next, he had felt the sudden crash of her body into his arms. His knees buckled at the sudden impact, Max's body weight pushing him down to the ground. Within moments, he was soaked in blood. It was chaotic around him, people running, screaming, shouting about another war with the ordinaries. Joshua didn't realize that tears were streaming down his face.

There was a gaping hole in her chest, almost in the same spot as her previous gun shot wound. Joshua was howling. He placed his hands on Max's chest, trying to stop the bleeding. She heartbeat was weak, and getting weaker as the seconds past by. He pleaded for help, yelling at everyone who was nearby to get a doctor.

So much blood.

How can little fella have so much blood?

Hurried movements at the corner of his eye caught his attention. Alec was there, leading a few more transgenics with a stretcher carried between them.

Help was here. Everything would be okay now. Or so he hoped.

He couldn't speak. The words were caught in his throat and he choked back his tears as he tried to tell Alec what happened. Alec soothed him as the others pried Max away from Joshua.

"Max will be fine, Josh. She'll be okay." Alec whispered to him.

But for the first time in his life, even Alec wasn't so sure about himself.

00000

_Logan smiled at Max. "I'm not going to eat you, Max." She smiled. Logan loved it when she smiled. He was glad they were easy around each other again, no more lies and trying to hide their feelings from one another. Things were good, well, except for the damned virus which was still lurking around, but things were good._

"_Yeah, but _I_ might eat you. You look yummy tonight." Her tone was teasing, a hint of the Max he knew before peeking out from under the stoic soldier she always pretended to be. Logan knew this was the side that Max saved especially for him and he loved it. He loved HER. _

"_I love you, you know that?" He said to her out loud. _

"_I do, but I swear I'm going to leave if you come any closer. I don't want you dying on me." She threatened playfully and then backed off. "Oh, and I love you too." She added. _

_Logan sighed and stopped advancing. He reached out to her, his gloved hand making contact with her face and stroking it before he smiled at her. "Promise me you'll never run." He watched Max's reaction, and was rewarded with a dazzling smile as Max caught his hand in hers. She squeezed it reassuringly, looking at Logan with eyes that reflected all the same feelings he had about her. _

"_I promise." They were silent for a while, hands clasped tightly between them. _

"_I need to get back to the Cornwall case. I'm this close to solving it. You want to hang around for a bit? I'll make you supper." He asked, hoping Max would say yes. Max grinned at him. _

"_How could I ever turn you down, Logan? It's not like I can get food like this anywhere else." Max remarked, making her way into the living room. She plopped down on the couch and grabbed a magazine from the table. _

"_Just don't forget about me when you're doing the whole computer thing. I get cranky when I'm hungry." She said loudly so that Logan could hear her from where he was by the computers. Logan chuckled. _

"_I won't forget you." Logan replied with a smile on his face. _

Logan had forgotten her though, hadn't he?

Logan glanced, for the hundredth time, into the glass window, watching as the doctors hurried to and fro in the room. His view of Max was obstructed by them and he was partly grateful for that. Who knew what might happen if he could see what the bullet he had been responsible for had done to her?

"Mr. Cooper is on his way, sir, he wants you to stay here," A nurse said as she came up to him. Logan nodded and watched silently as the nurse then entered the operating room.

Alec.

Logan took that as a sign for him to leave. Alec already knew something was up then. He couldn't deal with Alec's suspicion, even if he did have every right to be suspicious. Logan got up and took one last look into the Operating Room before deciding to leave. The nurse who entered before came out with a clipboard in her hand.

"How is she doing?" He asked.

"They're doing the best they can. But the doctors think she'll survive. She's tough." The nurse replied, letting a hint of reassurance seep into her words. Logan nodded at her words. He let her get back to the nurses' station before heading towards the exit.

Don't die on me, Max. I need you.

The pain he thought had been numbed after all those years he had spent away from her had been gnawing away at his insides ever since he got back. It was leaving him empty and hollow. He shouldn't have even entertained the idea of returning to Seattle. That little voice in his head sniggered cruelly at him.

Don't say I didn't tell you so.

He had seen what his leaving had done to her, turning Max into someone who could have starred in 'The Night of Living Dead'. He hurt as she did, although his pain was more physical than hers. And as she suffered so did he.

Who gave him the right to come back and do this to her again?

Logan smiled grimly at nobody in particular as he walked out of the hospital. He saw Alec's red jeep pull up in front of the entrance and he turned to the opposite direction. No time for that now.

He took his cell phone out of his pocket and started dialing.

"I won't be home tonight, I'm working late again." Logan said as he unlocked his car doors and got in. He sighed, hearing the complaints from the other end of the line.

Why are you always working? You work too much.

Someone had said that to him too a long time ago. Logan gritted his teeth as another flood of memories assaulted him.

"Look, I can't help it, Kylie. It's a big story I'm working on. I have to do this. Don't wait up for me, okay?" He told her tersely. Kylie muttered her disapproval into his ear and hung up.

He snapped the phone shut and tossed it into the empty seat beside him. Reversing the car, Logan had only one thought in his head.

Even if it was the last thing he did, he was going to make it right. He was going to fix this. He couldn't fix her broken heart, not anymore. The least he could do for her was to at least try to fix the damage he had done by coming back. And he was willing to die trying.

00000

A group of teens sat around a small fire, hands reaching out towards the flame to warm them up. Three boys and three girls made up the close knit group. They would call themselves siblings if they were asked, even though they were in no way related to each other, besides the fact that they were all raised to be super soldiers of the future.

Their oldest 'brother' killed Max that morning. Or at least he _thought_ he killed her.

"I can't believe you did it." Disbelief was evident among his younger siblings. When Coda had taken up the job, they had seen it as a joke. Who in the right mind would give a fifteen year old escapee from a _real_ mission? And it wasn't as though Coda was the best at it.

"Well, I did. And it was executed with perfection too."

Coda grinned smugly at the rest of them, enjoying the new respect the others had for him now. He had completed the mission with success. None of the others had ever accomplished that before, not in the ten years they had spent in Manticore, and certainly never in their lives on the outside.

He was special.

"How much are they going to pay you?" A voice quipped up from the back of the group. Coda looked up and grinned at his younger brother.

"Five grand. Half for me and the other half for Desi." He answered as he glanced at his partner in crime sitting opposite him. He smiled at her. Coda picked up a stick nearby and poked the fire, unsettling the ashes.

"But they haven't got back to me yet. Not since I told them I've done it." He sounded a little put off at that, but he remained smiling.

"They'll come through, I tell you. Then I promise, we'll get off the streets. We'll be like normal people." Coda said determinedly as he glanced at each one of his brothers and sisters.

00000

"_He's coming back." Even as Max said the words aloud, she knew how hopeless it sounded. But maybe if she believed hard enough, if she hoped…maybe._

_Hope is for losers, Maxie._

_That irritating voice in her head just wouldn't leave her alone. _

"_He wouldn't just leave me like this."_

_Her heart ached. Hell, her whole body ached. It was like having a gaping hole in her body, and it was sucking her into the icy depths. The numbness had begun to spread, Max realized as she noticed she couldn't cry anymore. She was devoid of all emotional feeling._

_Wouldn't Lydecker be proud. _

_The physical damage had been done. Her heart was broken, shattered into tiny pieces by the one person she thought would never hurt her. _

_And that's phony sentimentality for you, baby sister._

_Max could hear Zack's cruel laughter in her ear. His smug face bore down upon her as he cackled maniacally. She closed her eyes and willed herself to wake up. This is a dream. This is a dream. This is a dream. Zack's dead. He's not talking to you. He's not laughing at you. Logan didn't leave you. She willed herself to wake up from the nightmare. _

_A strong musty smell made her open her eyes. _

"_I'm so sorry, Max."Zeke was saying apologetically to her. _

_Wait. No, this wasn't supposed to happen yet. _

_This was a long time after…_

"_He's getting married."_

_Zeke was looking at Max, his eyes reflecting sorrow and regret as he turned the computer monitor towards her. A picture of Logan, standing tall and upright was on the screen. His arms were wrapped around a blonde, a few inches shorter than him. They were smiling. _

_Pretty. Rich._

"_Zeke, are you sure?" She whispered, examining the picture closely. She didn't dare to speak as she normally would. _

"_There was an announcement in the town newspaper. They're doing it this weekend. Max, look, you can still get there-" Dix started, knowing Max was on a verge of a breakdown._

"_No. He's happy now." Although he shouldn't be. _

_The hole she had been trying hard to ignore in her heart widened. She was lost in the hopelessness that spilled out from the dark depths. Max leaned against the cool wall as she shut her eyes. The pain was overwhelming. Her heart ached all the way to her stomach. Her feet were numb, she couldn't breathe. Max slid down to the floor and curled up as the tears she thought she didn't have started to pour. She was burning. _

_So familiar...The pain was so familiar._

_Ah yes, recently suffered through the same pain didn't you? He hurt you again the night he came back. The voices in her head snarled at her. Won't you ever learn, 452? You open up your heart, only to get hurt. Is it worth it? Is this worth it? He keeps hurting you, again and again. See? You should have left with me. _

_I would never hurt you._

_Stop it, Zack!_

_Max opened her eyes, tears blurring her vision. Here she was in her room at Terminal City. This was a more recent memory. The blue vial was sitting untouched on the desk, mocking her. _

_All that for what, Maxie? Another dose of Cale induced pain? Zack was taunting her now. She could hear the laughter in his voice, cruelly cutting deeper into her wounds, making it hurt even more. She winced in pain. Anger surfaced as she tried to suppress the mocking voice in her head, but to no avail. _

_This is why I can never love you, Zack._

_She surprised herself at the ferocity of her own words. So maybe there was a little humanity left in her. Maybe Logan hadn't completely destroyed her. She sniffed, barely realizing she had made herself bleed by clenching her fists too tightly. She should move on. _

_The pain burned again, sending her back into fits of hysterical laughter. _

_Every time she thought of him, she felt like dying. The pain was too much to bear. _

_He told me he loved me. _

_He was lying, Maxie._

"_NO!" _

Max awoke suddenly, breathing heavily, her cheeks stained with tears. Her heart was racing and she was trembling uncontrollably. Someone was holding her, whispering in her ear, telling her it was just a bad dream. Her chest hurt. It hurt badly.

Was the dream that powerful?

No, she remembered. She had fallen. She got shot, and then she fell.

That's why her chest hurt. It wasn't the dream. Nightmare. Whatever.

"You okay?"

Alec was holding her steady as he gently pushed her back onto the hospital bed. Max blinked. Her head was still fuzzy. The lingering images of the dream refused to go away, and she could feel another onset of tears as remembered the pain.

She nodded at his question. Better not to speak just yet.

She heard Alec talking to a nurse nearby, telling her to notify the doctors she was awake. He came back to her and pulled the chair he had been sitting on closer.

"You were out for a long time. Had me worried there for a while." Alec told her.

"What happened?" She asked. The images in her head were mixed up with the vivid nightmare and she couldn't distinguish the present from the past. She had gotten shot twice? Thrice? She couldn't remember.

"You remember being shot? You fell after that, but Josh was there to catch you, as clichéd as it might sound." Alec let himself smile a little.

"I think it might have something to do with Logan being back. But it's just a feeling." He added. He watched as Max gritted her teeth as he said the name. She closed her eyes.

"Want me to go look for him, Maxie? He was supposed to be here."

Max reopened her eyes and shook her head. "Don't. I don't want to see him." She said.

"Okay, maybe later if he drops by."

"No!" Max said again, forcefully. Alec narrowed his eyes, puzzled.

"I don't want…" Max took in a breath, trying to soothe the pain in her heart as she prepared to say more. "I don't need him hurting me anymore."

00000

Leave a review! Xoxox

P.S : New episode on Dark Angel Virtual Season 4! Go read it!


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N:** Sorry for the tragic and unnecessary delay. RL took over, then I got lazy, and then I moved to another country and... Yeah. 

Happy Birthday **lisa0316**! 

And so after some heavy revision and correction from the initial drafts of this pain in the arse chapter, here is: 

**Chapter 4**

Coda watched Desi as she sat quietly by herself, refusing to partake in their younger siblings' fun and games. It was dark, and the clouds were threatening to break open and wash them all in classic Seattle rain. They would have to move into their sad excuse of a shelter soon. Desi was staring into the flickering fire, playing with a loose pebble on the ground. Her dark hair fell in a mess around her shoulders, masking her face from his view. 

She had been like this all day. Subdued and quiet, very unlike her usual self. Coda got up, brushed the dirt off his worn out pants and walked towards her. 

"What's up, Dee?"

He sat down beside her. Desi half turned towards him, and then looked away. 

"I feel bad, Coda." 

Her voice was soft, so soft that even his transgenic ears strained to hear her. Felt bad?

"We killed her, Coda. She was important…" Desi trailed off, not daring to look into her older brother's eyes. She knew what to expect from him. After all, they had spent all their lives together. He would furrow his eyebrows in confusion then take a minute to realise what she was taking about and after that, start to get angry. And she was right. Coda snatched the pebble she had been toying with and threw it into the fire. 

"You knew that. _We_ knew that going into this, Desi." Coda's voice was stern and hard, emotionless like the soldiers they had been trained to be. 

"But so many people care, Coda. Look at the news, people are scared. She was important to them, more important than we-I thought. And we just took her out. Like that. " Desi pleaded for her brother to understand. It pulled at her heart as she watched the news replaying Max's fall over and over again, hearing the newscaster's exaggerated commentary on the fall and the bloody mess that came after, watching as thousands of transgenics and their supporters crowded around the City to get some sort of news about the situation. It was an unfamiliar emotion. 

Coda reached out to her and forced her to look at him. "We knew the risks, soldier. 452 was our target for so long. You knew what you were getting into. And you agreed, Desi. This is not the time for 

guilt or regret. Harden up, soldier. This is a victory. We got our job done, like we wanted to. This is a good thing." Coda said. 

Desi started to say something to that, but she fell silent. Her eyes shifted to somewhere behind Coda and then darted back fearfully to her brother. Coda whirled around, only to be faced with a round darkness that was the end of a gun. The barrel connected with his head before he could move. 

Instantly Desi was on her feet, but the man who'd approached them was faster and he moved just as swiftly as her, twisting her arm behind her and shoving her onto the ground. Desi struggled against the attacker, but to no avail as his immense strength held her down. 

Another Manticore soldier. 

Her younger siblings had come out now, stepping out from the shadows. She heard him cocking the gun, and then saw from the corner of her eye that it was focused on Coda. The younger kids stopped advancing. 

The man let out a harsh snarl, and then whispered harshly to them. 

"Tell me why you failed." 

00000

_"Watch and learn, Cale." _

_Hostile voices greeted him as he started to stir. His head hurt, and his lip was throbbing. He tasted blood. Ah, yes. He remembered being punched, fighting back, and then knocked out. Logan tugged in vain at the ropes tying his hands to the back of the chair. He heard a low chuckle from behind him._

_"It's no use, Cale. Just sit still and watch."_

_The cold metal of the chair that he was sitting on dug into his neck and shoulder blades. He figured he was sitting in one of those pre-pulse electric chairs, abandoned after the pulse because electricity was too expensive to waste on inmates. The darkness was intimidating. He tried as hard as he could but he did not remember who had taken him. He was walking out of his apartment building when a man had come up and slugged him hard in the gut. He had thrown a pretty good left hook at the man, before being rammed to the ground by two more men behind him. The last thing he remembered vaguely was being thrown into the backseat of a car and passing out. _

_Dim lights flickered on, and Logan noticed he was in an old warehouse. His ears picked up the faraway rumbling of thunder. There was a television set in front of him, with the red standby button glowing eerily in the greyish darkness. He heard a click, and the television blared to life. _

_Hoverdrone videos, he realised. He was watching hoverdrone footage. His eyes scanned the screens for anything which may be important. His eyes were still out of focus, tired, exhausted and he was sure his glasses were crooked and on the verge of snapping in two. _

_"Watch this, Cale." A voice whispered in his ear. He could smell the bad breath of his captor, and he turned away instinctively. A rough calloused hand yanked his head back roughly, eliciting a sharp crack in Logan's neck muscles and he winced. _

_"I said watch." _

_He focused on the screen then, trying to make out the slightly blurred image moving on the screen. Max. _

_"What the hell are you doing with her?" He managed angrily, his throat dry and hurting. He received no answer._

_ He couldn't tear his eyes away. He made Max out amidst the dark images, laughing with Original Cindy as they came out of Crash. They hugged and waved goodbye as Max got on her bike. She kicked the stand and revved the engine, eliciting drunken catcalls from the men slumped in a stupor in front of the club. _

_What was the point of watching this? _

_All of a sudden his view of the screen was blocked and a shadow fell across him. _

_"This is what happens when you disobey us, Cale. This is what happens when you don't follow the rules. Keep watching your girlfriend." The same sinister voice which spoke to him earlier told him. Logan tried to look up at the man's face, but he had moved away. _

_ He heard the harsh voice somewhere behind him, issuing orders to someone else; whispering in the darkness. There was loud click and Logan realised his captor had been talking into a phone. _

_A loud bang diverted Logan's attention back to the television. Max's motorcycle jerked in the video, suddenly skidding to the right and crashing in a heap by some dumpsters. The hoverdrone swerved out of range for a moment. Logan let out a strangled yell and the mess at the dumpster came back into view. He saw Max look up directly at the drone, narrowing her eyes suspiciously before crying out in pain as she tried to get up. She wrapped her arms around her abdomen tightly, and crumpled back into a heap on the ground. _

_Dark substance oozed out from underneath her clothes, under her hands. Blood, he assumed. Logan wanted to throw up. He was shaking; his heart was beating uncontrollably beneath his chest as he cried out to her. He saw Max reaching into her jacket pocket and pulling out her phone slowly, trembling in pain. He could see she was in agony. She flipped it open and pressed a number. _

_A shrill ringing tone forced Logan to look away from the television screen. It was the sound of his own phone, probably taken off him as he had been dragged inside. Someone picked up his phone and shoved it in front of his face._

_The pale blue screen glowed, flashing the words 'Max calling. Answer?' in front of him. _

_Logan tried to pull his hands free as hard as he could, but failed. The chair scraped noisily against the cement floor, the exoskeleton whirring in protest as he forced his legs to move. His captor laughed. "See? This is what happens, Cale."_

_The gloved hands flipped open his phone, taunting him cruelly as Logan heard Max's voice come through the line._

_"Logan…I got shot..." Her words were forced, shaky, and he could tell she was in pain._

_And then the line went dead. Momentarily confused, Logan looked up and saw a finger on the red disconnect button on his phone. Anger rushed through him like fire through gasoline. Logan glanced up at his kidnapper and saw the sinister smile playing across his face. _

_"You should have just left when we told you to." _

00000

Logan woke up suddenly, his heart hammering in his chest and sweating profusely. Relieving the worst moments of his life was not the best way to wake up. How long had he been sleeping? He straightened his glasses and realized he had fallen asleep in his office. The red LED display of the clock read 2:30 in the morning. His phone buzzed silently on the table, listing 23 missed calls for the night. He sighed and turned it off, momentarily considering throwing the damn thing into the trash and then deciding against it. 

He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and moved his mouse, bringing his computer back from hibernation. He had asked his contacts to try and retrieve security tapes from nearby buildings and one by one he had been receiving them through the night. Granted, his network wasn't as big as it used to be, but he had to make do. Things were bound to have changed after so many years. 

_Déj� vu all over again, isn't it?_

He sighed. He couldn't get her out of his head, as much as he wanted to. Couldn't get the image if her lying helpless in the hospital, depending on the tubes running through her to live. It brought back the haunting memory years ago as he sat chained up watching the grainy hoverdrone footage focusing on Max's near lifeless body by the dumpsters would haunt him forever. It had changed his life, after all. 

_If you die on me, I'll kick your ass. _

He didn't even know if she really had said that, or if it had been part of his overly active imagination. He had been heavily sedated, low on blood and heavily sedated at the time after all. He ran 

a hand through his hair, shaking off the old images playing in his head. He tapped his keyboard, going through the flood of footages he had received. 

The latest he had received was the surveillance tape from the roof of the building opposite Terminal City. Blurry images moved across the screen before a hand appeared and shoved the camera roughly out of place. He heard a small, girly laugh as the camera swung to and fro, transmitting haphazard footage before settling at an angle overlooking nothing in particular. 

It looked like it was just some kids goofing off on the roof. 

The new camera angle blocked the children from sight most of the time, but Logan could pick them out; able to spy their shadows flitting across the roof, once to the back, and once in the direction of the rooftop railings. What in the world were children doing on the roof, unsupervised? He was ready to dismiss the whole thing and move on to the next video when something caught his eye.

He saw a glint in the grimy footage, a reflection of metal from one of the kids lying flat on the ground, bouncing off one of the convex mirrors hanging at the corner of the roof. That haircut. Immediately, images of young Zack, the picture he'd unearthed for Max all those years ago flashed before his eyes, and the blood drained from his face. 

Manticore. 

He paused the footage, and blew up the still image. They were kids! He couldn't see them clearly and they obviously had been very careful. Logan gritted his teeth as his eyes strained. He needed his home computer for this. He couldn't use those though, not with Kylie lurking around at every corner. He slammed his fists onto the table, sending a heap of documents flying.

It was nearly three in the morning. Kylie would be asleep anyway, he reasoned.

_And if she isn't? You're going to answer all her questions?_ A nasty voice asked him.

It was a chance he was willing to take. 

00000

"_We've just received an update from our sources near Terminal City regarding the attempted murder yesterday on Max Guevara's life. A video footage recorded on an eye witness' camera phone clearly shows the transgenic leader falling from the roof of one of Terminal City's buildings after being shot. The shooter could not be seen. No statements have been released from inside the City, and we have yet to confirm if she is still alive or not. The Seattle Police Department has declined to further elaborate on this blatant attempt at murder. Stay tuned for more updates on this situation. You're watching the morning news on –"_

The television winked into darkness, and the remote was tossed aside. 

"Someone must've paid them off to keep quiet." Alec said, contemplating what he just heard. There was no way under normal circumstances would the Seattle PD stay quiet after what had just happened to Max. 

Max nodded silently. She was getting sick of this. Her chest hurt as her wound had not fully healed yet. Alec had convinced Sam to release her in the middle of the night, when there were less people around who would notice them getting out. The less people knew about her whereabouts, the better. Now, holed up in one of the few safe houses left, she was getting restless, and her mind was working in overdrive trying to piece together the shattered puzzle her life had started to become. 

Alec turned to Max, noticing her lack of responsiveness and went to sit by her side. "It'll take a while before Terminal City gets back to us. They're doing the best they can." He told her. 

"Why would someone want to kill me, Alec? Everything was fine, nothing – nothing was really wrong." Max sounded a far cry from her usual self, her voice hollow and lacking in emotion. 

And she was right. Nothing had gone wrong in the past months, more than half the 'ordinary' population in Seattle were still uneasy with the existence of Transgenics, but there had been no riots or demonstrations recently, and certainly nothing serious happening which would result in wanting to end her life. 

Then there was that nagging, disturbing feeling that maybe Alec had been right in saying that it may have been due to Logan's return. 

And here she was thinking of him again. 

The last time she saw him, he was lying beside her, fast asleep with an arm draped across her midsection. She remembered smiling then, still highly intoxicated and thinking it was the nicest feeling in the world to be lying next to him, finally after all those years apart. 

Max sighed. All those feelings from when he first left her had been successfully buried, but with him coming back, they slowly were clawing their way up. She tightened her arms around the pillow she had been hugging in an effort to stem the hauntingly unwanted memories from resurfacing. She fisted her fingers into the soft fabric. 

Suddenly she heard a loud screech from outside, the noise jarring back into the present. It was followed by a loud crash. Alec was instantly on the move, peering out the window before turning back to Max with a fearful expression on his face. 

"We gotta go. Now." 

Max immediately sensed the urgency behind his tone. She'd already suspected that the news of her survival wouldn't stay a secret for long, and whoever wanted her dead was going to finish the job. She got up slowly, minding her bandaged chest and peered out the window for herself. Black military 

conveys were parked haphazardly at the entrance, a mailbox had been knocked over and she spotted what looked like a group of well armed soldiers making their way inside. 

"They're just amateurs, Alec." Max remarked as she noticed the unprofessional set up. They hadn't left anyone waiting on the ground. And honestly, they had made far more noise than necessary to announce their arrival. 

"I don't see how that is a problem for us, Maxie. It's not like our escape plan is very _un_-amateurish." Alec replied, earning an annoyed look from Max. 

Alec was already reloading his gun. He grabbed the backpack he'd brought along and let out an impatient sigh. 

"We still have to go, Max. Amateurs or not." He gestured for them to start moving. Max took in a deep breath and together they exited the room.

The elevator from across the hallway already had the flashing lights steadily climbing to their floor as the two X5s made their way to the stairwell. They paused before opening the door, listening for any incoming threats before entering. Footsteps rapidly ascending the stairs echoed up to them, and with a silent upward gesture from Alec and a nod of approval from Max, they both raced up the stairs. 

Max's enhanced hearing caught bits and pieces of conversation as they made their way up, all of which related to her and her immediate capture. A blinding pain from her chest made her stop for a while, her chest throbbing with the sudden exertion. She urged herself to move faster, but try as she could there was only so much pain she could ignore. She could feel the bandage getting soaked with blood inside her shirt, and she guessed her wound had re-opened. Alec had gone ahead, disappearing into the next flight of stairs. 

_Just a few more flights, Maxie. _

She repeated the phrase to herself, simultaneously mentally cursing Alec for choosing the only safe house where the escape route was via the roof. She heard the door to the roof slam open ahead of her. 

_Few more steps... _

She was breathing heavily now, the front of her shirt drenched in a mix of sweat and blood. Her eyes refused to focus, and the world swam before her eyes as she spotted a blurry shadow coming into her view. She felt herself being steadied, her shoulder now being supported by Alec as he half dragged her up the remaining steps. 

"Hang in there, Maxie. I won't let them get us." 

She heard him whispering over her head as he let her lean against some sort of a wall. She heard a zipper being pulled, assumed it was Alec taking out his gear and let herself drift away. It was always better to deal with pain when you're not conscious of it. 

Alec pulled out a long cord from his backpack, attached a carabineer on one end and snapping the metal securely onto a little hook protruding out from the wall. Flinging the cord around Max, he twisted it into a secure knot before hooking it onto his own carabineer attached to his belt. He gave Max a once over, taking in her bloody shirt and heavy breathing. Her eyes fluttered open for a moment before closing again. 

"Logan..."

"Nah, Maxie. You got the wrong guy." Alec muttered as he picked her up. 

He gave the rope a strong tug and threw the now empty backpack over the edge. He heard voices from behind the door, coming up from the stairwell and realised with slight terror that he'd taken too much time. Hurriedly, he wrapped an arm around Max's limp form and climbed over the side.

One arm firmly around Max, Alec scaled the side of the building with expert ease, his feet pushing off from the side as his other arm let go of a little rope each time he swung down. Approaching the ground, he let go of the rest of the cord, landing with a silent thump on the road. He untied Max, released the carabineer and left the mess on the ground. They were at the back of the building, away from where the military conveys were parked. Alec ensured no one was around before he untied Max and let her slump helplessly against him. He pulled out his phone from the pocket, but before he could dial a number, it started ringing. 

Without bothering to check the number, he flipped it open and let out an impatient grunt into the receiver. 

"Alec? It's Logan. Listen, we need to talk." 

Alec remained silent for a moment. He still had his suspicions that Logan had something to do with the mess that they were in at the moment, and Logan, in his frantic tone was not helping the situation. Max let out a groan by his side, and her grip on his arm tightened. He heard a shout from above, and had no doubt that the men had found the cord hanging off the edge of the roof. He made up his mind. 

"Meet us at Joshua's. And bring a doctor." 

He heard Logan's voice at the other end saying more, but he snapped the phone shut and shoved it into his pocket. They made his way along the back alley of the building, Alec half carrying a now delirious Max, all the while staying alert for any signs of eminent danger. 

Alec had parked his car behind a large container truck, easy to navigate pass, and made his car difficult to spot from a distance. He unlocked it and strapped Max in before moving to the driver's seat. He turned the ignition and the car roared to life. Making sure he was clear to go, he reversed out and onto the road. 

It was time to get some answers. 

00000

I'm no good with action, I admit. But honest to God, I tried. Hopefully the next chapter won't take me this long... As always, reviews are always welcome. 

Hope you had a wonderful weekend Lisa! 


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